Three questions:

1. Who has the best autoresponder you’ve ever heard?
2. When was the last time somebody complimented your autoresponder?
3. What could you possibly have to lose by making your autoresponder more fun, more memorable, more unexpected and more readable?

Three answers:

1. Not you.
2. Never.
3. Nothing.

HERE’S THE DEAL: Your autoresponder isn’t (just) an email.

It’s part of your brand.
It’s an extension of your values.
It’s the arbiter of your boundaries.

And yet, it’s one of the most commonly overlooked branding hotspots.

“Thank you for your email. Your message is important to me, so…”

Vlaargh.

And that’s the scary part. Some people send emails (just like this) over two hundred times a day.

That’s 50,000 times a year. That’s 50,000 instances of…

No value. No fun. No brand. No engagement. No honesty. No memorability. No humanity. No approachability.

Yikes.

Look, just because a computer sends the message doesn’t mean it has to SOUND like a computer.

On the other hand: What if your autoresponder was so good that people told their friends about it? So good that people actually printed out a copy of it to show to their boss?

Think that would boost business in a struggling economy?

Yep.

Here are seven ways to create an autoresponder that makes money, delivers value and reinforces your brand:

1. Roboticism doesn’t work. If you write like you talk, people will listen. What’s more, it will sound more human, which is an accomplishment when it comes to technology. So, try this: Before finalizing the language for your autoresponder, read it out loud. Run it by a few colleagues. Then, ask these two questions:

a. Does it sound like a human, or a Hewlett Packard?
b. Are there any words in this email I wouldn’t use in everyday conversation?

REMEMBER: These filters will keep your email approachable and real. How are you fully integrating your humanity into your autoresponder?

2. Keep it short. It’s an autoresponder, not an autobiography. People don’t care and they don’t have time.

REMEMBER: Actually, that’s it for this example. Does this email demonstrate a respect for others’ busy schedules?

3. Leverage your subject line. Avoid stock phrases like “Thanks for your email” and “Out of the Office.” Emails with subject lines like that will be ignore or deleted. Instead, try something unexpected like:

a. Include your brand mantra.
b. Ask people a question of the day.
c. Offer a famous quotation. (Hopefully one of YOUR quotations.)
d. “Please call if it can’t wait till 11am or 4pm.” (Thanks this out. How radically honest is your autoresponder?

5. Funny makes money. If you’re going to use your autoresponder to promote your business, that’s cool. My only caveat is that you keep it light, fun and maybe even a little humorous. This will diffuse the defensiveness of the sales environment. Here’s an excerpt from my autoresponder:

“Also, while you’re poking around www.hellomyanmeisscott.com, my humble request is that you: Buy all eight of my books, hire me to speak at your organization’s next meeting, order customized video learning modules from NametagTV.com and rent my brain for a one-on-one business coaching session.

Not necessarily in that order, of course.”

Interestingly, about 30% of my recipients email me back a second time just to compliment this “playful pitch.” And about 1% of them actually buys something or hires me. Cool!

REMEMBER: We live in a sales-resistant culture. How does your autoresponder disarm people? How could you leverage your autoresponder as client attraction tool?

6. Mix the medium. If the purpose of your autoresponder is to filter out email overload and optimize your time, consider offering people multiple options for contact. For example, you could write:

a. “If this is an emergency, please call the following number…”

b. “If you need to physically send me something, my address is…”

c. “My wonderful assistant, Stephanie, gets paid BIG bucks to spend her whole day helping people like you. Her email is Stephanie.My.Savior@gmail.com. She’ll take care of ya!”

REMEMBER: Not everybody likes email. Some prefer the phone. Some prefer snail mail. How many contact options does your autoresponder offer?

7. Deliver value. Access doesn’t always mean presence. You can still answer people’s questions by including helpful resources For example, you might offer a link to your FAQ page or downloadable ebook. Or a link to your travel calendar. What about an interview you recently did? That’d be unexpected.

REMEMBER: A response demonstrates a sense of urgency. It’s also helpful and brand-consistent. Does your autoresponder deliver value? What resource could you send people? How else could you help people in your absence?

– – –

THE BOTTOM LINE: Boring autoresponders are taking money out of your wallet.

50,000 times a year, remember?

Fun. Engagement. Value.
That’s what it’s about.

Memorability. Humanity. Approachability.
That’s what it’s about.

REMEMBER: Just because a computer sends the message doesn’t mean it has to SOUND like a computer.

Because it’s not just an autoresponder – it’s a mechanism for delivering value, declaring val-UES and solidifying boundaries.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Who’s printing out YOUR autoresponder and showing it to their boss?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “30 Ways to become the Most Interesting Person You Know,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

The world’s FIRST two-in-one, flip-flop book!

Buy Scott’s comprehensive marketing guidebook on Amazon.com and learn how to GET noticed, GET remembered and GET business!

Video not working? Click here for Adobe Flash 9.

Watch the original video on NametagTV!

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do your words demonstrate ownership?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For a list called, “15 Ownership Phrases That Payses,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

The world’s FIRST two-in-one, flip-flop book!

Buy Scott’s comprehensive marketing guidebook on Amazon.com and learn how to GET noticed, GET remembered and GET business!

Great news!

In celebration of my latest book, Stick Yourself Out There : Get Them to Come to You, I’m going to be doing an exclusive promotion with … none other than … YOU!

If you would like to receive a free, autographed copy of the book, here are your three options:

1. Do you have an ezine? You can do Q&A w/Scott for an upcoming issue!

2. Do you publish a podcast? You can interview Scott for a future episode!

3. Do you post videos on your blog? Create your own three-minute video on how YOU stick yourself out there!

Read more about the book on Amazon, and if you’re interested in doing a cross promotion, send me an email no later than March 31.

This offer is limited to the first 19 requests ONLY.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How will you stick yourself out there in 2009?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
If you want an autographed copy, send an email to me – we’ll discuss the cross promotion- and I’ll send you the book for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

The world’s FIRST two-in-one, flip-flop book!

Buy Scott’s comprehensive marketing guidebook on Amazon.com and learn how to GET noticed, GET remembered and GET business!

Your introduction is WAY too long.

During your speech.
On your website video.
In the beginning of your book.

Way, way too long.

This is dangerous for three reasons:

FIRST: The attention span of a human being is about six seconds.
So, if you don’t grab them RIGHT AWAY you may never get them.

SECOND: The choices people have (besides you) are approaching infinite.
So, if you don’t grab them RIGHT AWAY, they might find something else to do or somewhere else to go, instead of paying attention to you.

THIRD: The information overload your audience is experiencing is ree-diculous. So, if you don’t get down to the good stuff RIGHT AWAY, your content will to blend into the noise and soon be forgotten.

Therefore, the #1 secret to engaging your audience is…

Hit the ground running.

Which brings to mind one of my favorite quotations of all time. In Elmore Leonard’s famous book, The Ten Rules of Writing, he reminds us:

“If you want to be a good writer, just leave out the parts that people skip.”

Of course! Brilliant!

And that’s not just about writing, it’s about ALL forms of communication.

Let’s explore three practices of how to hit the ground running.

1. ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE … of your speech. The most important words of your entire talk are the VERY first words that come out of your mouth. The minute you walk on stage, as soon as the applause dies down. These words set the stage for your entire speech AND are (probably) the only words your audience will actually remember.

In fact, most speakers fail to engage their audience in the first few MINUTES, much less the first few seconds. So, you challenge is to make them perk up, lean forward and think to themselves, “Ooooh, this is gonna be good!”

For example, think back to the last time you watched someone give a speech. During which sections of that speech did you “tune out”? Probably the intro, right?

DON’T START YOUR SPEECH WITH:
o It’s great to be here today… (Liar!)
o Thanks for having me… (Well, DUH!)
o Good morning… (Worst opening line for a speech EVER!)

INSTEAD, START YOUR SPEECH WITH:
o 2,743 days ago today… (That’s what I do, changing the number each time)
o The biggest mistake I ever made as a doctor was… (Humanizing)
o Do these pants make me look bald? (Thanks for that one, Steve Hughes!)

Just go. Hit the ground running.

2. ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE … of your website. Consider three statistics. First, the average amount of time most people spend on a website is only SIXTY seconds. Second, people’s brains decide whether or not they should trust you in under TWO seconds. Lastly, on YouTube, the average viewing time of any of their gazillion videos is only TEN seconds.

Stop wasting people’s time. They’re not going to sit there and watch your boring, low quality video if it doesn’t engage their emotions within the first couple of seconds. Instead, they’re going to hit that little “X” in the upper right hand corner and go to someone else’s website.

For example, think about the last time you arrived at someone’s homepage who had an automatic welcome video. Did you play the whole video? Turn it off? Mute your volume? Leave that annoying person’s website and hire someone else? Think about it.

DON’T OPEN YOUR VIDEO BY SAYING:
o Welcome to my website! (What is this, 2002?)
o Hello, my name is Ted and I would like to… (Zzzzzz!)
o I’d like to give you a tour of this site… (Sorry, but nobody has time!)

INSTEAD, OPEN YOUR VIDEO BY SAYING:
o Congratulations! If you’ve made it to this site… (Thanks, Harlan!)
o Ask yourself this question… (This is how I open my videos on NametagTV)
o The reason your company is LOSING money is because… (Who could resist?)

Just go. Hit the ground running.

3. ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE … of your book. Go to Borders and pick up ANY non-fiction book. Odds are, you’ll spend the first 20 pages of the book flipping through all of the typical, annoying, valueless, self-flagellating garbage most authors insist on making you read before you get to their ACTUAL book.

Testimonials, Introductions, SECOND Introductions to the Updated Edition, Prefaces, Notes from the Author (um, isn’t he whole BOOK a note from the author?) Acknowledgments, Forewords, Dedications, About the Author, blah blah blah blah blah…

Nobody cares! Just start the damn book. On the very first page. Think of it as a teaser. Then, after you’ve hooked the reader with a few REAL pages, you can go back and do some of those introductory pages. Readers won’t mind reading through that stuff if you’ve already engaged them.

For example, think about the last book you read. What pages did YOU skip? The stuff at the beginning? The stuff at the end? Those unnecessary self-promotional, four page stories that poorly illustrated a key point you already understood?

DON’T MAKE THE VERY FIRST PAGE OF YOUR BOOK SAY:
o No content of this book may be reprinted without permission (Bor-ring!)
o What people are saying about Dr. Jackson’s new book… (Um, value?)
o I’d like to thank my two beautiful and patient cats, Tiberius and Smokey, who purred at my bedside for two years as I suffered through a painful divorce and wrote this book … (Oh. My. God. Vlaargh.)

INSTEAD, MAKE THE VERY FIRST PAGE OF YOUR BOOK SAY:
o You’re about to read a book that will change your thinking forever. (Really? Sweet!)
o Nobody notices normal. (The opening line of my new book, Stick Yourself Out There.)
o There’s a 90% chance that your restaurant will go out of business by the time you’re done reading this book. (Holy crap!)

Just go. Hit the ground running.

– – –

HERE’S THE DEAL: Your audience members are CRAZY-busy, choice saturated and overloaded with information.

It’s not that they don’t CARE what you have to say – it’s that they demand to be engaged first.

THAT is your primary task.

Right away. Right now.

Whether you’re giving a speech, posting a video on your website or writing a book, remember to leave out the parts people skip.

Just go. Hit the ground running.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How many audience members are you putting to sleep because you’re not engaging them immediately?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “234 Things I’ve Learned about Writing, Delivering and Marketing Speeches,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

Who’s quoting YOU?

Check out Scott’s Online Quotation Database for a bite-sized education on success!

www.stuffscottsaid.com.

---

Wearing a nametag 24-7 for the past 3,000+ days has been great practice.

Practice being vulnerable, that is.

And as I continue to reflect on the past nine years of adhesive adventures, I’m slowly starting to realize the connection between vulnerability, approachability and profitability.

HERE’S THE REALITY: Sticking yourself out there is a risk.

And vulnerability is about being open.
Revealing your personhood to the world.
Submitting your ideas, thoughts and passions for all to see.
Surrendering your Truth – weaknesses and imperfections included – to the people around you.

Shakti Gawain beautifully defines this word in her book, Creating True Prosperity:

“Vulnerability means allowing yourself to be affected by the word around you.”

This, of course, is terrifying for many people.

Because you’re risking your truth. You’re risking being rejected. And you’re risking being stared at or talked about.

Yikes.

On the other hand, vulnerability DOES lead to profitability, when practiced wisely and consistently. In fact, there’s a sequence of three things that happen…

FIRST: The more often you stick yourself out there – that is, exert your distinctiveness – the more comfortable and confident you become with who you are.

THEN: When you’re comfortable and confident with who you are, your truthful self-expression inspires and gives other people permission to do (and BE) the same.

EVENTUALLY: When you and the people in your life stop bullshitting each other – and start realizing that it’s OK to be vulnerable – the rules change.

We begin to listen to each other from a truer place. We start to share with each other from a stronger place. We now communicate with each other from a more genuine place.

As a result, employees will listen TO you, and customers will buy FROM you.

Sounds like profit to me!

What about you? Are you ready to reclaim your right to be vulnerable – and LEAD with it?

Cool. Let’s learn how.

In his classic discourse on self-disclosure, The Transparent Self, Sidney Jourard hits the topic of vulnerability pretty hard. I read this book in college, only two years into my nametagging adventures. And I’ll always remember it as one of the first books that taught me what it meant to be approachable.

First, we’ll explore a sample of his research findings. Then I’ll tell you how to translate those lessons into action items you can execute TODAY to turn vulnerability into profitability:

1. “When a man discloses his experience to another, fully, spontaneously, and honestly, the mystery that he was decreases enormously.”

LESSON: Being vulnerable educates others about who you are.

QUESTION: How well do your customers know YOU?

ACTION: Fully integrate your humanity into your profession. Five ways to do so here.

2. “I display my love by letting him know me.”

LESSON: Being vulnerable is a gift that you give to others.

QUESTION: How, specifically, are you giving the gift of YOU?

ACTION: Ask PFQ’s (Passion Finding Questions.) I posted a list of them here.

3. “Disclosure of the truth of one’s being is often penalized. When you permit yourself to be known, you expose yourself not only to a lover’s balm, but also to a hater’s bombs.”

LESSON: Being vulnerable means being open to the fact that not everyone will like you.

QUESTION: Are you willing to let go of the need to be liked by everybody?

ACTION: Learn who (not) to listen to. Consider tuning out these 100 types of people.

4. “No man can come to know himself except as a outcome of disclosing himself to another person. But, when a person has been able to disclose himself utterly, he learns how to increase his contact with his real self, and he may then be better able to direct his destiny on the basis of knowledge.”

LESSON: Being vulnerable is a great way to get to know who you really are.

QUESTION: What have you learned about yourself by virtue of sharing yourself?

ACTION: Start blogging today. Shatter your excuses for not blogging here.

– – –

REMEMBER: Sticking yourself out there – that is, being vulnerable – is a risk.

You’re risking your truth.
You’re risking standing out.
You’re risking being rejected.

What’s more, vulnerability requires confidence in yourself, implies security in yourself and suggests openness to others.

So, let us not forget the wise words of the great writer, Henry James:

“To be opened to risk is to risk being shattered. But without that shattering there is no glory.”

Damn skippy.

So, contrary to popular conditioning, vulnerability IS strength. And we live a lie when we misrepresent the reality of our experience or the truth of our being.

I challenge you to open the door to your Truth. To risk feeling what you feel. To come out of the closet.

It makes you more relatable. It makes you more approachable. And ultimately, it makes you more profitable.

And you don’t even need to wear a nametag everyday.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What are you using your vulnerability for?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “24 Daily Practices for Turning Vulnerability into Profitability,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

Who’s quoting YOU?

Check out Scott’s Online Quotation Database for a bite-sized education on success!

www.stuffscottsaid.com.

---

In the (awesome) book Free Agent Nation, author Daniel Pink cites a 2001 survey conducted by The Washington Post that indicates the following:

“Self-employed businesspeople spend an average of 43 minutes a day marketing themselves.”

MY GUT REACTION: “43 minutes? Are you kidding me?”

That’s 8%.

Which leads to my next question:

“What are you doing for the other 437 minutes?

ANSWER: The wrong things.

As a self-employed businessperson, marketing is everything. Period. Bad economy or not.

The biggest mistake you could make is to tell yourself one of the following:

o “As soon as the summer hits, it’s marketing time!”
o “I really need to be doing some marketing this week…”
o “This month all my attention is focused on marketing!”
o “I’ll get around to doing some marketing when I get back in town.”

False.

Marketing is something you do all day.

ALL day.

The challenge is to find a way to transform everything you do into some form of marketing.

Everything.

Here are few examples:

1. Every email. Ask yourself:

o Does your signature promote anything?
o Does your “from” line reinforce your brand?
o Does your actual email address stimulate curiosity or interest?

2. Every blog post. Ask yourself:

o How many links did you include in your post?
o Was there a Call To Action or Response Mechanism at the end of it?
o Did you send the URL to all of the people you referenced or highlighted in the post?
o How many prospects, customers and colleagues did you personally invite to read your post because it was right up their alley?

3. Every phone call. Ask yourself:

o Was your greeting memorable, unexpected and consistent with your brand?
o Did you send the other person a copy of the notes you took during the conversation to reinforce your listening ability?
o When the operator asked, “May I ask who’s calling?” did you leverage your answer as a brand moment, or just state your name?”

4. Every conversation. Ask yourself:

o Did you give this person a copy of your Philosophy Card?
o What free sample or giveaway did you leave behind to leave your mark?
o Did you incorporate your Trademark Answering Style and ask questions that your competitors didn’t?

5. Every spare moment. Ask yourself.

o Did you read Seth Godin’ blog or watch a repeat of Law & Order?
o Did you hit the snooze button nine times or get up early and write your next blog post?
o Did you stand in line at the Post Office and complain about it or use that extra five minutes to post something inspiring on Twitter?

6. Every networking event. Ask yourself:

o Did you nail your Networking Intro?
o Did you create Points of Dissonance?
o Were you The Observer or The Observed?

7. Every new idea you have. Ask yourself:

o Did you write it down?
o Did you buy the domain name?
o Did you do initial market research by googling the hell out of it?

All day.

REMEMBER: People and companies who only do marketing “here and there,” will only get new business … here and there.

43 minutes?

For your sake, I sure hope it’s a lot more than that.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How much time do you spend on marketing each day?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “46 Marketing Mistakes Your Company Is (Probably) Making,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

The world’s FIRST two-in-one, flip-flop book!

Buy Scott’s comprehensive marketing guidebook on Amazon.com and learn how to GET noticed, GET remembered and GET business!

You have two kinds of expertise.

First, there’s your Content Expertise:

It’s topical. It’s a field of study. It comes from your head. It comes from what you KNOW.

And, you deepen your Content Expertise through learning, reading, writing and teaching.

Second, there’s your Core Expertise:

It’s a practice. It’s a way of being. It comes from your heart and soul. It comes from who you ARE.

And, you deepen your Core Expertise through being, living and practicing.

I’ll use my nametag – the symbol of my expertise – as an example…

The nametag is about approachability in its CONTENT – because that’s what I’ve learned and researched and experienced from wearing it 24-7.

But at its CORE, the nametag is about something bigger. I didn’t start to realize this until about five years into it, when it occurred to me that it’s not about the nametag.

It’s about discipline.
It’s about consistency.
It’s about unquestionable commitment.
It’s about sticking yourself out there.

It’s about sharing your truth with the world.
It’s about being yourself and honoring your truth.
It’s about asking questions most people don’t ask.

It’s about creativity and fun and childlike enthusiasm.
It’s about not asking HOW or WHY, but learning to just go.
It’s about getting out of your comfort zone on a daily basis.

It’s about becoming an expert at learning from your experiences.
It’s about excavating your passion and uncovering your uniqueness.
It’s about the difference between being having ideas and executing ideas.

It’s about leading with your person and not your profession or job title or label.
It’s about holding yourself personally accountable by painting yourself into a good corner.
It’s about choosing to make a name for yourself – to label yourself FIRST – before other people get a chance to.

It’s about the entrepreneurial leveraging of a simple idea into a saleable product, a adventurous career and a worldwide movement.

It’s about creating an product or idea that people can stumble upon, obsess over, fall in love with, become addicted to and tell their friends about.

It’s about being an advocate for comfort, diffusing defensiveness and reducing the threat in a fear-driven, fast paced, untrustworthy, unfriendly society.

That’s what the nametag is REALLY about.

Approachability? Sure. That’s huge. That’s the content.

At the CORE, however, there’s something deeper, stronger and more enduring.

What about you? What’s it about for you? What’s it NOT about for you?

I challenge you to think about the two dimensions of your expertise – your Content AND your Core.

Both what you know AND who you are.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How does your Content Expertise differ from your Core Expertise?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “31 Questions to Turn Your Expertise into Money,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you a list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

Who’s quoting YOU?

Check out Scott’s Online Quotation Database for a bite-sized education on success!

www.stuffscottsaid.com.

---

So, I wrote a new ebook last night.

Not for any particular reason.

There was some stuff that just needed to be said.

Anyway, here it is. For you. For free. For ever:

Here’s a few excerpts:

7. Allow people to experience that they can change your mind.

32. Believe what you believe because you believe, not because you were taught to believe and then mindlessly followed.

52. Create a working relationship with your emotional reality.

73. Do only the work you find absorbing, involving and enthralling.

146. Make sure people like themselves when they are with you.

Download your free copy here!

P.S. If any of the 241 items on this list cause you to react in ANY way, I’d be honored if you’d tweet them with “@allkeepersnofluff,” “#allkeepersnofluff” or @nametagscott.”

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you a living brochure of your own awesomeness?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Download All Keepers, No Fluff right now. Send to ten people who need awesome lessons.

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

Who’s quoting YOU?

Check out Scott’s Online Quotation Database for a bite-sized education on success!

www.stuffscottsaid.com.

---

I heart anagrams.

I posted last year about anagramming the word “attraction.“

Kind of a neat experiment. Came out pretty cool.

So, let’s do another one today:

You can’t spell M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G without the word…

Art. Because it IS an art. And a science. And a practice. All of the above. How many marketing books did you read this month?

Gent. Be kind and respectful. Just like a proper gentleman. Your marketing will never fail. (Unless your product is unremarkable and people hate it.) How are you currently disrespecting your customers?

Gnat. Don’t be annoying. Make music; not noise. Interact; don’t interrupt. Be the Gent that you are and stop “following up” so damn much. If they want you, they’ll hire you. Are you the constant buzz in your customer’s ear that’s driving them crazy?

Grant. Permission, that is. Permission to be your unique self and shout that from the rooftops. Best marketing advice I ever got. What part of your Personal Truth are you afraid to incorporate into your marketing plan?

Great. Which, if you think about it, isn’t that great. Sure, it’s better than Good. But even great only goes so far. You job is to be AWESOME. To literally fill people with awe. Is your marketing making people gasp?

Ink. If you’re not getting published in print, you’re in trouble. And by that I mean “your articles,” “articles ABOUT you,” and “articles QUOTING” you. Why don’t you have a media room on your website?

Irk. That’s what will happen if people keep hearing FROM you, and not ABOUT you. Whom are you annoying?

Kart. If you’re spelling the name of your products, services, or, God Forbid, your company name with a superfluous “K,” “Ph,” “Z,” I’m sorry, but your marketing sucks. Is Koffee Krazy REALLY the best name you could think of?

Kin. Your family, who loves you more than anyone, will constantly try to get you business. It will NEVER pan out. “A woman I met at the salon is going to call you,” your mother says. No, Mom, she’s not. She’s never going to call. She’s never going to hire me. She was just being nice because you were gushing about your son and she didn’t want to hurt your feelings. Thank you anyway. I still love you! How many leads in your pipeline are total wastes of time?

King. And another thing. If you have the word “King,” in your company name, you’re out of your mind. Why didn’t you hire Brains on Fire instead of having your fifteen year-old nephew, Caleb, create your brand identity?

Manger. That’s where the greatest marketer in the history of mankind was born. And all he did was listen, ask questions, love everybody, forgive everybody and serve according to his purpose. Whom are you imitating?

Met. As in, “meet.” How many people did you go out of your way to avoid last week?

Mink. It’s really, really expensive. And yet, people buy it. Hmm. Interesting. Are you undercharging?

Nag. This is how people will know you if your follow-up phone calls and emails don’t have any other purpose besides trying to close them. Whom are you nagging?

Trek. That means working your ass off. That means trudging through the snow. That means slugging it out and sticking yourself out there until everyone knows who you are. What time did you get up this morning?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How would you complete the sentence, “You can’t spell M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G without the word…”?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “37 Words that Should NOT be in Your Company Name,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

The world’s FIRST two-in-one, flip-flop book!

Buy Scott’s comprehensive marketing guidebook on Amazon.com and learn how to GET noticed, GET remembered and GET business!

My friend John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing is the brains behind Make a Referral Week.

This is an entrepreneurial approach to stimulating the small business economy … one referred business at a time.

The goal for this week has been to generate 1000 referred leads to 1000 deserving small businesses in an effort to highlight the impact of a simple action that could blossom into millions of dollars in new business.

Small business is the lifeblood and job-creating engine of the economy and merits the positive attention so often saved for corporate bailout stories.

Here’s what we want you to do…

1. How to make your referral official. Think about the referral(s) you are going to make. Make your referrals. Then visit the Make a Referral Week Referral Counter Page and tell us who you referred and why in the comments. Feel free to add URLs so others can learn about the business you referred. Also, take in all the great educational content all week.

2. How to listen to the experts! Did you miss the live web conference on Tuesday, March 10 featuring Bob Burg (author of The Go-Giver) Ivan Misner (founder of BNI) and Bill Cates (author of Get More Referrals Now)? This is the A-Team when it comes to teaching the strategies of referral. Listen here.

3. How to learn more. The Referral Week blog will be taken over by guest contributions and audio interviews with folks like Andy Sernovitz, Guy Kawasaki, Pam Slim, Rich Sloan, Anita Campbell, Yours Truly, Michael Port and Jill Konrath all focused on telling you how to generate more business by way of referral.

Speaking of referrals, here are my five for the week:

1. CIO Services: They do all my web stuff. Amazing service and quality.

2. Harlan B. Hodge: Taught me everything I know about video. Helped NametagTV become a reality.

3. Paul Krupin. PR Genius. Got me in the Investor’s Business Daily (today!) and other news outlets.

4. Jeff Braun. My book designer for six years. Coolest dude ever, fabulous eye for page architecture, made my new book GORGEOUS.

5. Richard Avdoian.Writer, speaker, business coach. Helped me get my life together. Top Ten Greatest People of All Time.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How many referrals did you give this week?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “24 Ways to Out GROW Your Competition,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

The world’s FIRST two-in-one, flip-flop book!

Buy Scott’s comprehensive marketing guidebook on Amazon.com and learn how to GET noticed, GET remembered and GET business!